Fishermen net bomb

TWO Newhaven fisherman got more than they bargained for when they netted a massive World War II bomb and it began to roll around on the boat.

Mike Scott, of Fort Road, and Ben Stoten, of Denton, had been working aboard the trawler Sajenn on Tuesday morning just off Beachy Head.

They pulled their nets out of the water then realised they had caught a 1,000lb German bomb. Knowing they wouldn't be able to get it back in the sea because of its size, they strapped it down and called the Coastguard.

Skipper Mike said: 'The sea was calm around 7am. We had the bomb tied down in the boat then, a few hours later, the wind picked up and the bomb worked loose and it started rolling around. That was the point when I stopped feeling quite so calm!'

Exciting

'The lad who was with me, Ben, is only 17 and it was only his second day. He was OK when we first hauled it on board I think he thought it was quite exciting. He started to worry like hell after a while though because we were on the boat for about seven hours.'

He added: 'It was strange because Ben had only asked me a few days ago if I had ever pulled a bomb out of the water, and we managed to pull one out two days later.'

The Royal Navy bomb disposal unit arrived from Portsmouth and were taken out to the trawler by the Newhaven Lifeboat around 11am.

The team, led by Lt-Cdr David Welch, transferred to the trawler with their specialist equipment. Due to the rough sea the Navy unit's own boat carrying their gear to tackle the bomb was towed to the scene by the Lifeboat.

Lt-Cdr Welch said: 'The first thing we had to do was to get the bomb back in the water. This took about an hour because the trawler did not have equipment, which could lift it. So we set up our own gear and gently and slowly heaved it over the side.'

They then attached a long fuse to the bomb and blew it up a mile and a half outside Newhaven harbour after it had settled 40 feet down on the seabed.

The trawler returned safely to Newhaven with the rest of its catch intact.

Mike has been a skipper for 30 years and finding a bomb isn't a new experience for him. He said: 'In the past 30 years I have pulled out five bombs. None of them were as big as this last one though. It's not a regular occurrence and I don't think it will put me off fishing.'

l Second Cox Paul Legendre and the Lifeboat crew who took part in the operation will be at the Newhaven Lifeboat fete in Fort Road, Newhaven, tomorrow (Saturday). See Page 5